Christine Chang Photography

Here’s a picture I took in December 2006 when I was interning for the local paper. This was when the U. of Michigan Football Team was having their pep rally at the Santa Monica Pier, and I was sent to cover the event. They were getting ready for the Rose Bowl, where they eventually lost to USC. I had just started shooting for the paper and the paper didn’t have a press pass ready for me yet. Actually, the whole year I was interning they didn’t really have a press pass for me, just a business card and then my editor basically threw me out there to the rest of the world.

And what a big world it was on that day. I was photographing alongside the Detroit Free Press, who flew people out there, of course, to cover the event, along with the LA Times and various other venues. It was really fun, but the one thing was I had to talk to this big “bouncer” guy and he was big enough so that I had to bend my neck all the way back and look at his head and 80% of the rest of my view was the sky. I was expecting alot of convincing (talking, smiling, showing him my card, showing him my camera, and more talking, smiling), but once I showed him my card he smiled and moved the gate for me. It was nice.

Flash foward a year to something that I don’t need any security clearance for: weddings. Weddings are clearly a situation where others want me to take pictures, the more the better. This is Maria, by the way, in Las Vegas getting her wedding makeup done at Macy’s. Everything about this picture looks normal, prepping for the wedding, etc.

So she gets seated and I ask the lady at the counter if I could take pictures, and she said yes. Then this manager walks up to me and begins to have a fit. I haven’t seen grown men have a fit in a while, but he seemed to be having one. You can’t shoot pictures here, it’s against policy, Mr. Manager says. I know it’s against policy, I say, but can’t you just let me shoot this bride and this bride alone on her wedding day? I will not shoot any of your products or anything else in your store.

He says no, and then I proceed to try to explain to him that this is the bride’s only day in her entire life that she will ever get makeup put on for her wedding and I have a job to do. He said absolutely no pictures and he walked away.

Remember when you were little and sometimes you asked your mom for something and she said no? Then you decided to ask dad, who didn’t know that mom said no. So dad said yes and you were off the hook.

Well I remembered that situation and lo and behold another manager (of equal stature) walked by. I asked him if I could please shoot some pictures for the wedding and he said “Sure! Go ahead.” And then he semi-retracted his statement when he said “but did that other manager say no?” to which I nodded my head. But, he said, it probably wouldn’t hurt, it’s her wedding day after all.

So dad said yes and I was off the hook.

The manager who said no to me, though, kept on hovering a circumference around the makeup area, so I photographed when he was at the farthest distance from me (look around, look through viewfinder. pause. look around, look through viewfinder. click.) My camera’s shutter gave the whole show away though, so when he heard the shutter in the stone silent morning at Macy’s he stormed over there and here’s how it ended:

“I am VERY DISAPPOINTED in you! I told you photography wasn’t allowed and YOU chose to DISOBEY me and take a photograph!!!”
“I’m sorry sir, but I have a job to do, this is her wedding day and I was hired to take pictures of her.”
“You explicitly went against my word and took pictures.”

To which he then asked my favorite question out of the whole scene:

“WHO do you work for?! I am going to talk to your supervisor!”

And then I had to keep myself from saying anything, I just really wanted a moment to compose myself and give the dramatic pause. To then which I answered, “I work for myself. Would you still like me to talk to my supervisor?”

And then he turned around, gave a little huff and stormed away. I felt bad then; he was only trying to do his job, but I just couldn’t get through to him that I wasn’t harming anyone in trying to capture a bride on her wedding day.

This story surfaced two weeks ago when I was sleeping over at my sister’s apartment. We were talking about everything, it was late, we both had work the next day, and it felt so good because we used to do this in high school. We would stay up late talking about boys and school and friends and the only thing missing was our dad knocking on our door at 3am telling us it was late and it was time to sleep.

So here’s to all the future weddings I will shoot: come rain or storm or unflinching manager, I will capture your special day!